3D Printer manufacturer Formlabs announced a scaled down SLS system that fits on a tabletop and costs 20 times less than the presently available comparable printers.

Dubbed the Fuse 1, this SLS 3D printer starts at $10,000. At $20k, Formlabs will provide additinally a post-processing station, an extra build piston, and the Nylon PA 12 material. The machine is designed for professional-scale production.

In 2011, the world produced approximately $11.3 trillion in manufacturing value added, according to United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) data.

Globally, an estimated $967 million in revenue was collected for additive manufactured goods with the U.S. accounting for an estimated $367 million or 38 % of global production in 2013.

Approximately 62.8% of all commercial/industrial units sold in 2011 were made by the top three producers of additive manufacturing systems: Stratasys, Z Corporation, and 3D Systems based out of the United States. Approximately 64.4 % of all systems were made by companies based in the United States.

Provided below are the categories of 3D printing/Additive manufacturing prcesses and the adapted definitions of these processes re from the ASTM F2792 standard:

Binder Jetting: This process uses liquid bonding agent deposited using an inkjet-print head to join powder materials in a powder bed.

Directed Energy Deposition: This process utilizes thermal energy, typically from a laser, to fuse materials by melting them as they are deposited.

Material Extrusion: These machines push material, typically a thermoplastic filament, through a nozzle onto a platform that moves in horizontal and vertical directions.

Material Jetting: This process, typically, utilizes a moving inkjet-print head to deposit material across a build area.

Powder Bed Fusion: This process uses thermal energy from a laser or electron beam to selectively fuse powder in a powder bed.

Sheet Lamination: This process uses sheets of material bonded to form a three-dimensional object.
Vat Photopolymerization: These machines selectively cure a liquid photopolymer in a vat using light.